Twelve Principles of Effective Teaching and Learning

(Source: Tiberius & Tipping, 'Twelve Principles of Effective Teaching and Learning For Which There Is Substantial Empirical Support, University of Toronto, 1990 )

(As with the "Faculty Inventory", you can use these twelve principles to help identify your areas of strength and areas for improvement.) These twelve principles are intended as guidelines to faculty and administrators interested in the improvement of teaching and learning. The list is derived, in part, from a study co-sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education and the Education Commission of the States (AAHE Bulletin, March 1987). That study reported seven principles of good practice and six powerful forces in higher education which has been extracted from fifty years of research on teaching and learning in higher education. The study was conducted by a team of prominent educators, including Alexander W. Astin, Howard Bowen, Carol H Boyer, K Patricia Cross, Kenneth Eble, Russel Edgerton, Jerry Gaff, Joseph Katz, C. Robert Pace, Marvin W. Peterson, and Richard C. Richardson Jr. We have added five principles, based on our review of the literature (including review articles such as T.M. Shermin et.al. "The quest for excellence in university teaching" in the Journal of Higher Education, Vol 58, No 1, 1987, pp.66-84; and John Centra et. Al. "A guide to evaluating teaching for promotion and tenure", 1987, a publication of Syracuse University). 1. Teachers' knowledge of the subject matter is essential to the implementation of important teaching tasks Teachers who know their subject matter thoroughly can be more effective and efficient at organizing the subject matter, connecting the subject with the students' previous knowledge, finding useful analogies and examples, presenting current thinking on the subject, and establishing appropriate emphases. 2. Active involvement of the learner enhances learning Learning is an active process which requires that the learner work with and apply new material to past knowledge and to everyday life. Some of the methods that encourage active learning in the classroom are: discussion, practice sessions, structured exercises, team projects, and research projects. In the words of William James: Teaching without an accompanying experience is like filling a lamp with water. Something has been poured in, but the result is not illuminating. 3. Interaction between teachers and students is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement

Interaction between students and faculty, particularly informal interaction, is one of the most important factors in student motivation for learning. The opportunity to know a few faculty well often enhances students' intellectual commitment and provides valuable rolemodeling. 4. Students benefit from taking responsibility for their learning Students are more motivated when they take control of their own learning. This is the belief which has stimulated active interest in self-directed learning. 5. There are many roads to learning Students learn in different ways and vary in their abilities to perform certain tasks. Understanding that each student has unique strengths and weaknesses related to the ways in which they approach learning is an important component of effective education. Providing a variety of learning activities for a class enables individual students to choose the activity which is the most effective for them at the moment. 6. Expect more and you will achieve more Simply stated, if an educator conveys to students that he or she believes in their ability to succeed learning is enhanced. 7. Learning is enhanced in an atmosphere of cooperation Learning is enhanced when it is perceived as a collaborative and cooperative effort between students. The opportunity to share ideas without threat of ridicule and the freedom to respond to the ideas of others increases complexity of thinking and deepens understanding. 8. Material must be meaningful If new material is presented in a pattern or framework that the learner can perceive, it is more readily learned and retained. New material will be more easily learned if the learner is helped to see its relationship to what s/he already knows. Material which is seen by the learner as relevant to his or her own problems and experiences will be more readily learned. 9. Both teaching and learning are enhanced by descriptive feedback Without feedback neither learner nor teacher can improve because they will not know what they need to know or to what extent they are fulfilling their goals. The learners' behavior will more quickly reach the objectives if they are informed (or given feedback) frequently about the correctness of their responses. Correct responses should be immediately reinforced to increase the "permanence" of learning. A positive reinforcer is anything that will increase the probability that the desired behavior will be repeated. A smile or comment to let the learner know he or she has successfully

completed the task is especially good because awareness of successful completion is, in itself, the most effective of all reinforces. Feedback about progress is helpful because learning is facilitated when the learner is aware that he or she is progressing towards the goals. 10. Critical feedback is only useful if the learner has alternatives to pursue There is no use giving teachers or students feedback about their performances unless they can do something about it, that is, unless they have some alternative course of action or behaviour. 11. Time plus energy equals learning Lectures or seminars that are canceled will not help the learner. Conversely, teachers who arrive at their lecture or small group setting a little before the scheduled time and stay around for a few minutes afterward provide opportunities for valuable interaction between students and teachers. Office hours also help students to arrange time to talk with teachers. Students must learn how to organize their time so that they can find time to study. And the curriculum must be organized to allow students time to study. 12. Experience usually improves teaching Experience is associated with increasing teacher effectiveness for some teachers, probably for those teachers who obtain feedback about their teaching and who are flexible enough to modify their methods in response to the feedback.
Students prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.
Students come into our courses with knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes gained in other courses and through daily life. As students bring this knowledge to bear in our classrooms, it influences how they filter and interpret what they are learning. If students prior knowledge is robust and accurate and activated at the appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for building new knowledge. However, when knowledge is inert, insufficient for the task, activated inappropriately, or inaccurate, it can interfere with or impede new learning.

How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.
Students naturally make connections between pieces of knowledge. When those connections form knowledge structures that are accurately and meaningfully organized, students are better able to retrieve and apply their knowledge effectively and efficiently. In contrast, when knowledge is connected in inaccurate or random ways, students can fail to retrieve or apply it appropriately.

Students motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.

As students enter college and gain greater autonomy over what, when, and how they study and learn, motivation plays a critical role in guiding the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which they engage. When students find positive value in a learning goal or activity, expect to successfully achieve a desired learning outcome, and perceive support from their environment, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn.

To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned.
Students must develop not only the component skills and knowledge necessary to perform complex tasks, they must also practice combining and integrating them to develop greater fluency and automaticity. Finally, students must learn when and how to apply the skills and knowledge they learn. As instructors, it is important that we develop conscious awareness of these elements of mastery so as to help our students learn more effectively.

Goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students learning.
Learning and performance are best fostered when students engage in practice that focuses on a specific goal or criterion, targets an appropriate level of challenge, and is of sufficient quantity and frequency to meet the performance criteria. Practice must be coupled with feedback that explicitly communicates about some aspect(s) of students performance relative to specific target criteria, provides information to help students progress in meeting those criteria, and is given at a time and frequency that allows it to be useful.

Students current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning.
Students are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and they are still developing the full range of intellectual, social, and emotional skills. While we cannot control the developmental process, we can shape the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical aspects of classroom climate in developmentally appropriate ways. In fact, many studies have shown that the climate we create has implications for our students. A negative climate may impede learning and performance, but a positive climate can energize students learning.

To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.
Learners may engage in a variety of metacognitive processes to monitor and control their learningassessing the task at hand, evaluating their own strengths

and weaknesses, planning their approach, applying and monitoring various strategies, and reflecting on the degree to which their current approach is working. Unfortunately, students tend not to engage in these processes naturally. When students develop the skills to engage these processes, they gain intellectual habits that not only improve their performance but also their effectiveness as learners.

In the professional education part of LET, most of the questions are situational. And one of the common mistakes about the LET is that it is said to be "easy". The reason behind this is that all the choices seemed correct, and yet there really is one correct answer. But how will one know that the choice is the correct and best answer? This is where the principles come in. In answering the questions that are situational, keep in mind the principles ofteaching and learning. These will guide us to choose the "best" answer among the choices. Actually, there are a lot of principles of teaching/learning. I just would like to present these, shall I say, principles discussed from one of the current textbooks usednowadays. Hope you will learn a lot... 1. Learning is an experience which occurs inside the learner and is activated by the learner. This means that learning will not take place unless the learner her/himself allows it to happen in his/her mind. It is not primarily controlled by the teacher, rather on the learners' wants, interests and motivation to learn. In real classroom setting, the teacher must engage learners in activities that are connected to their lives. 2. Learning is the discovery of the personal meaning and relevance of ideas. This is somewhat the same with principle number one. Learners can easily understand concepts if these are relevant to their needs and problems. Hence, as teachers, we must relate the lesson to the learners' needs, interests and problems. 3. Learning is a consequence of experience. In short, use experiential learning as much as possible period. Hehehe... 4. Learning is a cooperative and collaborative process. Learners will learn more if they are given chances to work together and share ideas. Make use of group activities. 5. Learning is an evolutionary process. Learning especially if this means a change in behavior, does not happen in a click. This requires time and diligence. So as teachers, be patient. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient. 6. Learning is sometimes a painful process. This means that learning requires sacrifice, hardwork, study time. Let the learners realize this okay? 7. One of the richest resources for learning is the learner him/herself. Let's not be too "centered" upon ourselves. Let's draw the discussion not only on our own experiences as teachers but on

the learners' experiences as well. Listen and let the learners share their prior knowledge, stories, information, etc that can enrich the learning process. Encourage free sharing inside the classroom. 8. The process of learning is emotional as well as intellectual. Learners can't learn that much if they have something that is bothering their minds. These can be problems and worries they have either in or out of the classroom. Thus, as teachers, let us be sensitive to our students' problems. We can't teach learners with empty stomachs remember? 9. The process of problem solving and learning are highly unique and individual. Make use of different teaching strategies that can cater multiple intelligences and learning styles.

Management of Instruction: Determining and Formulating Goals/Objectives

In determining and formulating learning objectives, we have the following guiding principles: 1. "Begin with the end in mind." In the context of teaching, this means we must begin a lesson with a clearly defined lesson objective. This way we will have a sense of direction. With this definite objective in mind, we do not lose sight of what we intend to teach. No amount of far-fetched question or comment from our students, no amount of unnecessary interruption or disruption can derail our intended lesson for the day. With a specific objective, our lesson becomes more focused. We become sure of what to teach, how to teach, and what materials to use. 2. Share lesson objective with students. The lesson ought to begin with a statement and clarification of the lesson objective. Make known to the students our instructional objective and encourage them to make the lesson objective their own. This then becomes the students' personal target against which they will evaluate themselves at the end of the lesson. When they do this we are sure that they will become more selfmotivated. 3. Lesson objectives must be in two or three domains: cognitive(knowledge), psychomotor(skills), and affective(values). What is most important according to this principle is that our lesson is holistic and complete because it dwells on knowledge and values or on skills and values or on knowledge, skills and values. If we teach only knowledge, this is incomplete for this may not in any way touch and bring about change in the learner. We may end up with more head knowledge that is measured in test then completely forgotten after the test. If we teach skill unaccompanied by values, we may

contribute to the formation of people who will have all the skills to oppress, to abuse, and to take advantage of the unskilled and the unlearned. So it is necessary that our lesson gets direction from objectives in two or three domains with the affective domain always present. 4. Work on significant and relevant lesson objectives. With our lesson objective becoming our students' lesson objective too, our students will be self-propelled as we teach. The level of their self-motivation all the more increases when our lesson objective is relevant to their daily life, and hence, significant. 5. Lesson objective must be aligned with the aims of education as embodied in your country's constitution and other laws and on the vision-mission statement of the educational institution of which you are a part. This means that the aims and goals of education as provided for in our laws filter down to our lesson objectives. 6. Aim at the development of critical and creative thinking. If we want to contribute to the development of citizens who are critical and creative thinkers, the types of citizens needed to make democracy, then we should include high-level, divergent, or openended questions in our scope. It must be good likewise not to frown on students who question a lot - all for the development of critical and creative thinking. 7. For accountability of learning, lesson objectives must be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-oriented and Time-bound. That way, it is easy to find out at the end of the lesson if we attained our objective or not. Our lesson becomes more focused for we have a concrete picture of the behavior that our students should be able to demonstrate if we realized our lesson objective.